4S RANCH  Clayton Brooks is missing his left leg just below the knee. His left forearm is noticeably shorter than his right. Much of his right thumb is gone, and he’ll never be able to wear a wedding ring on his left hand because most of his ring finger is gone. His right leg, left hand and right shoulder are badly scarred.

Brooks is also the starting goalkeeper for the Maranatha Christian Schools varsity lacrosse team.

He lost his leg and the other body parts when he was 3 to meningococcemia, an acute and potentially life-threatening infection of the bloodstream.

Doctors told his parents to prepare to say goodbye to their son because they thought he had a 10 percent chance to live.

“It was one of those life-changing moments,” said Brooks’ mother, Lori. “I can’t even describe it to you as a parent. It’s your worst nightmare.”

Clayton survived, thanks to smart people like Dr. Gina Rosenfeld, who diagnosed the problem, and Dr. John Bradley, director of infectious diseases at Rady Children’s Hospital, who confirmed the diagnosis — and Dr. Brad Peterson, who spent three days at Clayton’s side in ICU, and Drs. Peter Newton and Scott Mubarek, who performed the many surgeries he would need. Clayton has had to endure more than 30 operations.

“Children’s Hospital was just so awesome,” his mother said. “We didn’t know it, but it’s one of the few hospitals that was equipped to save his life. Every time I think about it, it still brings tears to my eyes.”

Since he suffered the illness at such a young age, he doesn’t recall a time when he could run and play on two legs.

“I don’t really remember anything about it, other than a dream or two,” said Brooks, a junior with a 4.3 GPA who wants to attend Princeton or Stanford.

His lacrosse coach, Bill Rodgers, tells of the time when Brooks was a freshman, and his P.E. class was required to run.

“I’d have to call him in and tell him to stop because he’d always want to finish and do everything everyone else did,” Rodgers said. “From the moment he stepped on campus, he’s never wanted to be treated any differently, and that’s because he won’t let us.”

Of course, if Brooks attended a large public school, he might not get the same shot. A coach likely would take one look at him, then look at the two-legged candidates available, and sit Brooks on the bench, if he even made the team.

Maranatha’s lacrosse program is in its infancy, only in its second year. The private high school in 4S Ranch has 109 students, 65 of whom are boys. Twenty-five of those are on the lacrosse team; 17 of those are freshmen and sophomores. There’s only one senior. Brooks had never even picked up a lacrosse stick until 15 months ago, when the program had its first practices.

“Lacrosse is so big here now,” Brooks said. “But I don’t think I would be playing at any other high school, and I don’t think I would play any other sport, maybe football, but my parents wouldn’t be too high on that.”